Year: 2013

Sheffield Hallam University is questioning the need for more big developments of student accommodation in the city, saying there were “many” empty beds this year.

It is raising concerns in response to a £25m scheme for more than 600 students next to Hyde Park flats that is currently under council scrutiny.

Backers of the project for Maltravers Road, Wybourn, believe there is still a demand for purpose-built student homes in Sheffield – and say the proposed complex would ease the strain on other parts of the city …

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A top property consultant has warned Leeds City Council against adopting anti-business policies amid fears of a new housing bubble in the student accommodation market.

Tim Waring, a close advisor to several major investors including the Evans Property Group and St James Securities, said the council’s proposed changes to planning policy represent “a serious threat” to developers proposing new purpose-built student accommodation and ignore long-term trends.

The local authority wants property companies to demonstrate the need for new accommodation and ensure that student blocks can be adapted for families in the future …

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The owner of Abbey Park House, in the old St Leonards fields, has planning permission to convert the listed building into a 47-bed hotel and had been marketing the derelict property around the world.

Developer Robertson Homes is now seeking consent to turn the former St Leonards School boarding house into student digs instead due to a lack of interest in the scheme from the hotel industry.

It is seeking planning permission and listed building consent from Fife Council to convert Abbey Park House into student accommodation comprising 98 bedrooms …

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Students are facing higher rents than ever after it was revealed prices had doubled in some university towns, while rents in the South are “soaring”.

The average rental value for student accommodation has risen 3.1% since 2012, with the rise being driven predominantly by extortionate rental prices in the South of England. The average rent stands at around £79.42, up from £77.04 last year. There is also a noticeable North-South divide in prices, according to research by Accommodation for Students (AFS) …

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Figures from specialist student accommodation website Accommodation for Students suggests that the average rental value for student accommodation has risen 3.1% from £77.04 per week per bedroom in 2012 to £79.42 in 2013. This average rise appears to be driven by soaring rents in the south.

Based on rents on more than 125,500 properties in 92 locations, their research shows that London has the highest average rental value of £129 per week, followed by Egham at £115 …

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Administrators have been appointed at a Salford student accommodation business after it “struggled to sustain its financial commitments due to challenging economic conditions”.

David Costley-Wood and Brian Green, restructuring partners at KPMG, are joint administrators to Salford Student Homes, which traded from The Crescent, Salford.The pair have been appointed joint receivers over one commercial site and 36 residential properties in Greater Manchester.

The commercial property and 25 of the residential properties were owned by a private individual …

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Our universities are in rude health. While other industries continue to suffer, our lecture halls are crammed with eager beavers from around the world. And where intelligent young things flock, house prices surely follow.

Although numbers applying for university fell last year, mostly caused by the hike in tuition fees, now students are back and raring to go. There has been a 2.7 per cent increase in applications for this academic year. More overseas students than ever are pursuing their studies in Britain. Their parents, often wealthy, are following their offspring with hefty wallets.

So what’s good for British universities is good news for those who own properties in the popular areas. Higher education is becoming a marketplace, with universities competing for applicants. Successful student towns are becoming hubs, where soaring demand for housing means high rental yields …

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The Summergrove site in Whitehaven will become a 132-bedroom residential campus designed to attract British and international students to study with the universities and training providers which form Britain’s Energy Coast (BEC) Campus partnership.
The residential training centre has been out of use since 2011.

Owner of the site, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), has given the BEC Campus a long lease on the site and a £2.2m refurbishment programme is under way.

It is being assisted by a £1.6m grant from economic development organisation, BEC, through the NDA (£1.08m) and Nuclear Management Partnership (£520,000) funding …

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Student housing developer Unite Group (UTG) has turned itself around in recent years, cutting costs to boost cash flow and selling properties to reduce gearing. The hard work – and the big share price rerating – is now in the past, yet a bullish half-year report suggests scope for further profit growth against a favourable market backdrop.

Net operating income, a measure of turnover for property companies, grew 4 per cent year-on-year, supported by the completion of various developments. Management also kept a tight lid on costs, so adjusted profit rose 6 per cent to £15.2m, even though 2012’s figure was boosted by the recovery of £2.5m in cash deposits from a bust Icelandic bank.

Like-for-like rental growth reached a pedestrian 1.2 per cent over the six months (from 1.8 per cent in 2012) but, judging by advance room bookings, that could quicken. Reservations for October currently cover 90 per cent of the portfolio, up from 87 per cent a year ago …

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Part of a grade II listed building in Oxford city centre could become student accommodation after it was bought by a university college.

Lincoln College says it is considering its options after spending a reported £5.7m on 120-121 High Street.

Part of the building, previously owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, is used by the NatWest and Coutts banks, and they are expected to stay …

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